Tuition increase in forecast
Illustrated by Chelsea Pagan
By Kristen Wohlers
Check underneath your couch cushions because, chances are, you’ll need those extra coins to pay for tuition next year.
On the agenda for Clackamas Community College’s Feb. 8 Board of Education meeting is a recommendation to increase tuition and fees for the 2017-2018 school year. The proposed changes are per credit hour and include a tuition increase from $90 for the 2016-2017 year to $93 starting fall 2017, a student fee increase from $2 to $2.50 and a student technology fee increase from $4.50 to $5.50.
Tuition went up by $3 in 2016-2017 as well, and the college has seen a 125 percent increase in tuition over the last 15 years, from $40 per credit in 2001-2002.
Why the increase? According to the agenda packet for the February meeting, the main concern is fiscal sustainability. Since about a third of the college’s general fund is furnished from student tuition, in short, the increase is needed to maintain the budget.
The seven members of the Clackamas Board of Education will make a decision in March.
